West Indies chief urges need for improvement

BASSETERRE: West Indies cricket chief Julian Hunte has again warned the West Indies players that their performance must be closely linked to the level of payments which they receive for international matches.

The president of the West Indies Cricket Board has warned the players that there is an urgent need for them to improve, if their side is continue enjoying the benefits of playing against the top teams in the World.

Hunte is attending a meeting of the Executive Board of the International Cricket Council in Dubai, and his comments come against the backdrop of discussion about a plan to establish a two-tiered system in international cricket.

The proposal would allow the teams ranked in the top seven of ICC Test and ODI rankings to play in the top division, and the bottom three and a number of ICC Associate nations to contest the second division.

"The West Indies team has to start winning matches against higher ranked opponents or we will end up being relegated to being a second division international team," said Hunte in a WICB news release.

West Indies are currently ranked eighth in both Tests and One-day Internationals, and Hunte noted that West Indies players are the third-best paid in the World behind England and Australia.

But he noted their performances are inconsistent with the emoluments they receive, and this was unsatisfactory.

"We want our team to be No.1 both in performance and emoluments," he said.

"If we do not start winning however, we run the risk of being relegated, and we will not be able to earn the money that we require to regain our place at the pinnacle of World cricket."

The release indicated that the WICB's directors will deal with what it considers "a crisis in West Indies cricket" at its next meeting on July 24 and 25.

West Indies coach John Dyson will be asked to explain his plan to improve the technical skills of the players to make them more competitive and improve the World ranking of the team.

A new selection panel will also be put in place, since the contracts of the present members expired on June 30.

"We need to synchronise all our various efforts and plans to achieve the short-term objective of getting higher up in the rankings," Hunte said.

"We have to widen our pool of talent, have a clearly stated and objective selection philosophy, increase the amount of cricket played at the regional level, and improve the standard of the players and teams in our tournaments, and we must do it all very quickly.

"If not, we will not be creating history, as we did in the past, but we will be history."